Adjustable basketball goals

ABSTRACT

A basketball goal is carried by upper and lower pairs of arms which are pivotally connected to a support to permit vertical adjustments. The adjustment is effected by means of a screw attached to the support and extending downwardly to a threaded tube which extends through a ring member carried by the lower arms and is mounted to tilt about a horizontal axis. The weight of the overhanding goal structure may be counterbalanced by torsion springs carried by lateral projections of a shaft forming part of the lower arm structure.

United States Patent [191 Bearson et al.

1 ADJUSTABLE BASKETBALL GOALS [76] Inventors: Benhard M. Bearson; OrrinC.

Klungtvedt, both of Lanesboro, Minn. 55949 221 Filed: Jan. 15, 1971 21Appl.No.: 106,644

[52] US. Cl 273/15 R, 248/281, 248/292, 248/421 [51] Int. Cl A631) 63/04[58] Field of Search 273/15 R; 248/281, 248/421, 284, 292, 297, 280, 4

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,329,546 2/1920 Rhoads248/292 X 1,686,341 10/1928 Nathanson 248/281 X 2,227,310 12/1940 Hoppeset al..... 248/281 X 2,546,361 3/1951 Floyd 248/421 X 2,652,880 9/1953Gundersen.... 248/421 X 2,757,888 8/1956 Branstratoru. 248/4 2,784,7643/1957 Rigby et al... 248/421 x 2,982,336 5/1961 Minici.... 248/4213,245,641 4/1966 Hart 248/4 Oct. 16, 1973 3,489,174 1/1970 Cooley, Jr248/292 X 3,586,324 6/1971 Bearson 248/284 X FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 485,547 8/1952 Canada 248/421 908,055 10/1962 Great Britain273/15 R Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant ExaminerPaul E.Shapiro Attorney-G. A. Ellestad [5 7] ABSTRACT A basketball goal iscarried by upper and lower pairs of arms which are pivotally connectedto a support to permit vertical adjustments. The adjustment is effectedby means of a screw attached to the support and extending downwardly toa threaded tube which extends through a ring member carried by the lowerarms and is mounted to tilt about a horizontal axis. The weight of theoverhanding goal structure may be counterbalanced by torsion springscarried by lateral projections of a shaft forming part of the lower armstructure.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures ll/ll Patented Oct. 16, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet1 J/IQ 4 3 T D 3 5 E Y 3 V M E TA N 9 G R W w w M 2 W a w K A w w N O OO O Y O O O O 0 HI NR ER \UWTW BO 6 2 Y I M M 2 B B m 7 4 I 6 8 8 3 4 3l 2 N 2 N m 5 3 F a E o 0 o o o o o I 4 k H I 9 n w 3 3 Patented Oct.16, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.5

I NV ENTORS BENHARD M. BEARSON ORRIN c. LUNGTVEDT BY flis ATTORNEYADJUSTABLE BASKETBALL GOALS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to basketball goals and more particularly it has reference to abasketball goal which may be vertically adjusted to selected heights soas to accommodate players of various ages. The height of a basketballgoal on a regulation court is too high for children and hence they areunable to develop proper playing skills.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Objects of the present invention are to providea basketball goal which will be relatively simple in structure andcapable of being vertically adjusted with a minimum of effort andsecurely held in adjusted position.

According to the invention, upper and lower parallel arm means arepivotally connected at their respective end portions to rear supportingmeans and front supporting means which carries a backboard and attachedhoop. The goal may be vertically adjusted by means of a screw which ispivotally connected to the upper portion of the rear supporting meansand extends downwardly for engagement with internally threaded meanssuch as a nut carried at the end of a tube. A ring mem-' ber, which iscarried by the lower arm means to tilt about a horizontal axis, has anopening through which the tube extends downwardly. Two annular bearingmembers surround the tube and are located, respectively, above and belowthe ring member and are limited in movement along the tube by collarsfixed to the tube above and below the bearing members, respectively.Coiled torsion springs in operative engagement with the lower arm meansact to counterbalance the weight of the backboard and normally urge thelower arm means upwardly. The lower end of the tube carries an eyeletwhich may be engaged by a crank or other de vice to rotate the tube andthereby move the backboard to a selected vertical position. Thecounterbalancing coil springs may be omitted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a basketballgoal embodying the invention, with parts broken away and in sections.

FIG. 2 is a view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the screw adjusting means withparts broken away and looking in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing the connection of the lower arm meansto the rear supporting means taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view on a reduced scale showing the construction ofthe lower arm means.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of theinvention is shown in the drawings wherein indicates rear supportingmeans comprising a frame formed of the two vertical members 11 and 12and the connecting cross members 13, 14 all of which may be made ofangle iron, for example. Extending forwardly from the rear supportingmeans are the two parallel arms 15 and 16 having their rear portionspivoted, respectively, to members 11 and 12 by pins 17 and forming theupper arm means. The front supporting means is formed by the twovertical members 18 which are secured to the backboard 19 carrying thehoop 19. The front end portions of the upper arms 15 and 16 arepivotally connected to the front supporting means by pins 20. The lowerarm means are formed by a frame, as shown in FIG. 5, comprising ahorizontally extending shaft member 21 mounted to turn in U-shapedbearings 22 welded to the vertical members 11 and 12. Extendingforwardly from the shaft 21 and secured thereto are the two side arms23, 24 which are pivotally mounted to the front supporting means by pins25. A horizontal member 26 connects the two side arms 23, 24 and a pairof spaced members 27, 28 extend between the shaft 21 and the member 26to complete the frame.

The weight of the overhanging structure which projects forwardly fromthe rear supporting means may be counterbalanced by biasing means, suchas springs, which normally urge the lower arm means and connectedstructure upwardly. This may be accomplished by a coiled torsion spring29 which encircles each of the two lateral extensions 30 of shaft 21with the inner end of each spring held under a clip 31 welded to each ofthe two vertical members 11 and 12. The outer end of each spring ispositioned in an aperture formed in a collar 32 releaseably held at theend of each shaft extension 30 by means of a set screw 33. With thisconstruction, the tension of the springs 29 will exert on the shaft 21 aforce which will tend to turn the shaft in a counter clockwise directionas viewed in FIG. 1 and thereby tend to raise the arm structuresupwardly to counterbalance the weight of the backboard and otherstructure. Each collar 32 is provided with peripheral apertures 34 toreceive a rod for turning the releaseably held collar 32 for adjustingthe tension exerted by the spring.

The backboard 19 and the attached hoop 19 may be adjusted vertically bymeans comprising an elongated screw 35 which extends downwardly from theupper part of the rear supporting means to which it is pivotallyconnected by a pivot pin 36 to the cross member 13. The screw 35 is inoperative engagement with internally threaded means such as the nut 37which is fixed at the upper end of a downwardly extending tube 38.Mounted between the members 27 and 28 of the lower arm means is theapertured plate or ring member 39 having the laterally projecting pivotpins 40 received in openings formed in members 27 and 28 to therebypermit the ring member 39 to tilt about a substantially horizontal axis.The tube 38 extends downwardly and freely through the opening in thering member 39 with an annular bearing member 41 surrounding the tube 38above the ring member 39 and the bearing member 42 surrounding the tube38 below the ring member. The upper bearing member 41 is limited in itsupward movement by the upper collar 43 which is fixed to the tube 38 bythe set screw 44 and the lower bearing member is limited in its downwardmovement by a collar formed by the tube 45 which surrounds the tube 38and is fixed thereto by pin 46. An eyelet 47 is welded to the lower endof tube 38 and is adapted to receive a crank or rod for turning tube 38and thereby move the arm structure to effect vertical adjustment of thebackboard.

The screw 35 is preferably protected by a casing such as the plastictube 48 which extends downwardly and over the upper portion of tube 38.The goal structure may be secured to a wall or suitable support by meansof screws or bolts passing through openings formed in the verticalmembers 11 and 12.

in operation, a crank or rod may be engaged in eyelet 47 to rotate thetube 38 to thereby position and safely hold the backboard and attachedhoop at a selected height. The force exerted by the torsion springs 29may be adjusted to a desired amount. With the parts related as shown inFIG. 3, the force exerted by the springs is sufficient to move the ringmember 39 upwardly against the annular bearing 41 which is held againstthe upper collar 43. As the tube 38 is rotated to raise the backboard,the bearing member 42 will move up against the under side of ring member39. In a simplitied structure, the torsion springs and associated partsmay be eliminated along with the upper bearing member 41 and collar 43.In such case, the weight of the arm structure would be transmittedthrough the ring member 39 to the lower bearing member 42.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the inventionas pointed out in the appended claims.

We claim: 9

1. A basketball goal comprising rear supporting means, front supportingmeans, upper arm means and lower arm means extending between the frontand rear supporting means, the end portions of the upper and lower armmeans being pivotally connected to the respectively adjacent supportingmeans, a backboard and attached hoop carried by the front supportingmeans wherein the improvement comprises means for vertically adjustingthe backboard and holding it in adjusted position comprising a threadedmember extending downwardly from and pivotally connected to the upperportion of the rear supporting means, a tube having internal threadedparts in operative engagement with the threaded member, a ring membercarried by the lower arm means to tilt about a horizontal axis, saidtube extending freely and downwardly through the opening in the ringmember, means carried by the tube for engagement with the under side ofthe ring member and means for rotating the tube whereby the backboardand attached hoop may be vertically adjusted and held in adjustedposition.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the ring member hasoppositely extending pivot pins for tiltably mounting it on the lowerarm means and an annular bearing member surrounds the tube below thering member and above a collar fixed to the tube whereby the weight ofthe arm structure is transmitted through the ring member to the bearingmember.

3. The structure recited in claim 1, further comprising spring meansoperatively connected to the lower arm means and normally urging thelower arm means upwardly, spaced collars secured, respectively, to thetube above and below the ring member, and a pair of annular bearingmembers surrounding the tube and located, respectively, between the ringmember and the upper and lower collars whereby rotation of the tube willmove the bearing members into engagement with the ring member to effectvertical adjustment of the backboard and attached hoop.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein the spring meanscomprises a coiled torsion spring carried on each lateral extension of ashaft positioned at the lower portion of the rear supporting means andforming a part of the lower arm means, the inner end of each springbeing held by the rear supporting means and the outer end of each springbeing held in a collar releaseably carried by the shaft and adapted tobe turned to vary the tension of the spring.

1. A basketball goal comprising rear supporting means, front supportingmeans, upper arm means and lower arm means extending between the frontand rear supporting means, the end portions of the upper and lower armmeans being pivotally connected to the respectively adjacent supportingmeans, a backboard and attached hoop carried by the front supportingmeans wherein the improvement comprises means for vertically adjustingthe backboard and holding it in adjusted position comprising a threadedmember extending downwardly from and pivotally connected to the upperportion of the rear supporting means, a tube having internal threadedparts in operative engagement with the threaded member, a ring membercarried by the lower arm means to tilt about a horizontal axis, saidtube extending freely and downwardly through the opening in the ringmember, means carried by the tube for engagement with the under side ofthe ring member and means for rotating the tube whereby the backboardand attached hoop may be vertically adjusted and held in adjustedposition.
 2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the ring memberhas oppositely extending pivot pins for tiltably mounting it on thelower arm means and an annular bearing member surrounds the tube belowthe ring member and above a collar fixed to the tube whereby the weightof the arm structure is transmitted through the ring member to thebearing member.
 3. The structure recited in claim 1, further comprisingspring means operatively connected to the lower arm means and normallyurging the lower arm means upwardly, spaced collars secured,respectively, to the tube above and below the ring member, and a pair ofannular bearing members surrounding the tube and located, respectively,between the ring member and the upper and lower collars whereby rotationof the tube will move the bearing members into engagement with the ringmember to effect vertical adjustment of the backboard and attached hoop.4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein the spring meanscomprises a coiled torsion spring carried on each lateral extension of ashaft positioned at the lower portion of the rear supporting means andforming a part of the lower arm means, the inner end of each springbeing held by the rear supporting means and the outer end of each springbeing held in a collar releaseably carried by the shaft and adapted tobe turned to vary the tension of the spring.